Shook, Hardy & Bacon

Infobox Law Firm
firm_name = Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
firm_logo =
headquarters = Kansas City, Missouri
num_offices = 9 total, 2 international
num_attorneys = approximately 500
num_employees = approximately 1,000 (including researchers and analysts)
practice_areas = General practice
key_people = John F. Murphy, Chairman of the firm [ [http://www.shb.com/shb.asp?pgID=929&attorney_id=34&st=f Murphy's firm bio] ]
revenue = $316M (2007) [http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/shook_hardy_smokes_em/ Shook Hardy Smokes 'Em] Journal of the American Bar Association, October 2008]
date_founded = 1889 [ [http://www.shb.com/shb.asp?pgID=260 Firm profile] ]
founder = Frank Payne Sebree
company_type = Limited liability partnership
homepage = [http://www.shb.com/ shb.com]
dissolved =

Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP is a large U.S. law firm based in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2007, the National Law Journal ranked the firm as the largest in Missouri and 77th largest in the United States, though it has since been eclipsed by Husch Blackwell Sanders.

Personnel

One of the more unusual features of Shook, Hardy & Bacon is that the firm maintains a full time scientific research staff of 200 analysts and 125 researchers. These employees advise the firm's attorneys on technical issues in the course of complex litigation, patent prosecution, and selection of expert witnesses.

Practice areas

The firm has practice groups in intellectual property, bankruptcy, commercial transactions, tax law, banking law, products liability/Tobacco, corporate and securities law, health law, insurance law, real estate, construction law, environmental law, and antitrust.

Notable clients

One of the firm's longtime clients was Phillip Morris (now Altria Group). [ [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Shook%2C_Hardy_and_Bacon Sourcewatch profile] ] . The firm procured expert witnesses for the company prior to the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. [ [http://tobaccodocuments.org/bliley_pm/24415.html Copy of legal bills and expert witness lists from tobaccodocuments.org] ] SHB also maintains a large clientèle of pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer AG, Wyeth, Eli Lilly & Co., Baxter International, Zimmer Holdings and Indevus. [ [http://www.jonesday.com/news/news_detail.aspx?newsID=S776] ] In 2007, Shook won a $69.5 Million verdict on behalf of their client, Sprint Nextel, against Vonage. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/technology/26vonage.html] ]

Relationship with Big Tobacco

Seldom publicized is the fact that the firm has represented five of the six Big Tobacco companies: American Brands, Brown & Williamson, RJR Nabisco, Philip Morris (now Altria Group) and Loews Inc. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D61039F933A15752C1A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all] ] ] In 1992, a federal judge all but accused the firm of orchestrating fraud on behalf of the tobacco industry and exerting attorney-client privilege to hide facts about tobacco's health hazards. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D61039F933A15752C1A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all] ] ] This has lead some to compare the firm to the fictitious law firm in John Grisham's movie "The Firm."

Notable lawyers and alumni

*Jolie Justus, first openly lesbian member of the Missouri Senate
*Vince Gunter, former captain in the U.S. Army JAG Corps, received a Bronze Star in the Iraq War.
*Victor Schwartz, tort expert and co-author of Prosser, Wade & Schwartz’s Torts Casebook.
*Harvey L. Kaplan, named Product Liability Lawyer of the Year by "Who's Who Legal - The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers"

Offices

United States

*flagicon|United States Kansas City, Missouri
*flagicon|United States Houston, Texas
*flagicon|United States Irvine, California
*flagicon|United States San Francisco, California
*flagicon|United States Tampa, Florida
*flagicon|United States Miami, Florida
*flagicon|United States Washington, D.C.

International

*flagicon|United Kingdom London
*flagicon|Switzerland Geneva

References

External links

* [http://www.shb.com/ Homepage]
* [http://www.lawperiscope.com/profiles/220.html LawPeriscope Profile]
* [http://www.vault.com/companies/company_main.jsp?co_page=1&product_id=9113&ch_id=242 Vault.com profile]
* [http://www.chambersandpartners.com/usa/FirmProfile.aspx?fid=3585&mode=firms&display=1 Chambers USA profile]
* [http://www.martindale.com/Shook-Hardy-Bacon-LLP/law-firm-202631.htm Profile] from LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell